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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.10.28
Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 10: Kaikeyī claims the two boons. Bound by his promise, Daśaratha hears her demands for Bharata’s abhiṣeka and Rāma’s exile, then collapses and pleads
In the sequence: she claims her two old boons: Bharata must receive the ceremony prepared for Rāma, and Rāma must leave that very day for fourteen years in Daṇḍaka, wearing bark and matted hair
2.10.28
nava pañca ca varṣāṇi daṇḍakāraṇyam āśritaḥ
cīrājinajaṭādhārī rāmo bhavatu tāpasaḥ
For fourteen years let Rāma dwell in the Daṇḍaka forest and become an ascetic, wearing bark garments, deerskin, and matted locks.
Words: nava — nine; pañca — five; ca — and; varṣāṇi — years; daṇḍakāraṇyam — the Daṇḍaka forest; āśritaḥ — dwelling in, resorting to; cīrājinajaṭādhārī — wearing bark, deerskin, and matted hair; rāmo — Rāma; bhavatu — let become; tāpasaḥ — an ascetic
Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki, the ādikavi of the ādikāvya: the first poet of the first poem. Sanskrit: The Vālmīki-Rāmāyaṇa: Critical Edition, Oriental Institute, Baroda, 1960–1975 (gen. eds. G. H. Bhatt, U. P. Shah); IAST from GRETIL (Göttingen). Translation and word glosses: Claude Opus 4.6–4.7; summaries and sequences: ChatGPT Astra (machine-made). Numbering follows the Critical Edition, not the vulgate (e.g. Gita Press, valmikiramayan.net), so sarga and verse numbers can differ from those editions.